The 567th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Robbins guest stars as Richard Mace.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
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The 568th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Robbins guest stars as Richard Mace.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The 570th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Many fans of the series consider this the “last pure historical story” – the Doctor and his companions are merely witnesses to events that have no other science fiction influence. 
In a federal court hearing in Chicago, Atari and Midway – as the American licensees of Pac-Man – are victorious over Magnavox, whose Odyssey² cartridge K.C. Munchkin was alleged to infringe on Pac-Man. The court ruling, which results in an injunction forcing Magnavox to pull K.C. Munchkin off the market, says it “captures the ‘total concept and feel’ of, and is substantially similar to, Pac-Man,” and that Magnavox “jeopardized the substantial investments of Midway and especially Atari.” Beaten but defiant, Magnavox releases a K.C. Munchkin sequel later in the year.
The 571st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Many fans of the series consider this the “last pure historical story” – the Doctor and his companions are merely witnesses to events that have no other science fiction influence.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The 572nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. What most fans don’t realize, thanks to a carefully coordinated reveal, is that Earthshock is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen. The Cybermen are only seen at the end of part one, and producer John Nathan-Turner declines the potentially valuable offer of a Radio Times magazine front cover in order to preserve the surprise.
The 573rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
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The 574th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
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The 575th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen, and the first story since 1966 to depict the death of one of the Doctor’s traveling companions.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
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The 576th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.
The 577th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
After an extremely short development period and industry insider warnings that the finished product wasn’t ready for prime time, Atari releases Tod Frye’s home version of Pac-Man for the Atari VCS, selling record numbers… and, within weeks, becomes the subject of bad word-of-mouth and critical slams on its weak game play and graphics. At the urging of Atari CEO Ray Kassar, Pac-Man‘s print run exceeds the number of VCS consoles sold to date, since it’s anticipated that the Pac-crazed public will buy the console simply because Pac-Man is available for it.
Buckner & Garcia’s hit single Pac-Man Fever reaches its peak on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #9 on the chart. Over a million copies of the single (backed with an instrumental version of the same song) have sold.
The 578th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The 579th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner. This episode brings the 19th season of Doctor Who (and Peter Davison’s first season) to an end.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
Produced and co-written by Harve Bennett (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invisible Man) and directed by Nicholas Meyer, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan debuts in theaters. The story follows up on the first season TV episode Space Seed, bringing back Ricardo Montalban (who is now a star thanks to his stint on ABC’s Fantasy Island) as Khan and introducing Kirstie Alley as a new member of the Enterprise crew. With faster pacing, increased action, and a more contemporary military sci-fi feel, the sequel is a hit that guarantees future sequels, as well as gradually increasing interest on Paramount’s part to return the franchise to television years later.
Atlantic Records releases an album of selections from James Horner‘s soundtrack to Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. (The same album will receive a CD re-release from GNP Crescendo Records at a later date.)
Walt Disney Records releases Wendy Carlos’ soundtrack from the movie Tron. Two Journey songs also appear on the album.
Disney’s Tron – the first movie to pay homage to the ’80s video game craze and the first movie to arrive with video game tie-ins already in the works – premieres in theaters. Starring Bruce Boxleitner and Jeff Bridges, the film establishes of the most distinctive visual idea of the decade, that of a person being “sucked into” the digital world, where glowing body armor is worn.
Bally/Midway releases the official Tron arcade game, based on Disney’s movie, in the United States. Containing multiple games based, either directly or loosely, on action setpieces from the movie, the arcade game is an instant hit even as the film struggles in theaters.
The first episode of Glen A. Larson’s Knight Rider premieres on NBC, starring David Hasselhoff and Edward Mulhare, with William Daniels as the voice of KITT. Richard Basehart (Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea), Lance LeGault (Werewolf), and Herbert Jefferson Jr. (Battlestar Galactica) guest star in the series premeire.
Midway releases the arcade video game Super Pac-Man, licensed from Namco, the Japanese developers behind Pac-Man, of which this game is a direct sequel.
Mattel Electronics releases the Tron Deadly Discs cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system, based on the movie Tron. A version of this game is also released by Mattel’s M Network imprint for the Atari 2600.
Mattel Electronics releases the Tron Maze-a-Tron cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system, based on elements of the movie Tron.
Still trying to stem the tide of bootleg copies of Pac-Man in American arcades, Midway releases the coin-op conversion kit Pac-Man Plus, offering arcade operators an inexpensive (and legal) way to “freshen” old Pac-Man machines on-site rather than turning to bootleg enhancement kits, a problem that has been stealing Midway’s market share since Pac-Man became a hit.
Sega releases the arcade game Buck Rogers: Planet Of Zoom in American arcades. Completely unrelated to the recent television series, the graphically impressive game is designed to be the first in a series, but no further games in the projected series ever materialize.
Warner Communications, the parent company of video game manufacturer Atari, issues an earnings statement in which it anticipates losing money in the fourth quarter of 1982. The losses are attributed to product returns and other shortfalls experienced by Atari, despite the acquisition of licenses for home video games based on Pac-Man and E.T. The reaction on Wall Street is immediate, and a massive sell-off of video game related stock leaves the entire industry reeling within a week. The industry is seeing the first hint of the bust that will end the boom years.
The 580th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Leonard Sachs and Michael Gough guest star; for the first and only time to date in the series, the next actor to play the Doctor appears in a small guest role (Colin Baker). This episode is the beginning of the 20th anniversary season of Doctor Who, and brings back Omega, the villain of 1973’s The Three Doctors, in a story set on the Time Lord planet of Gallifrey.
The 581st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Leonard Sachs and Michael Gough guest star; for the first and only time to date in the series, the next actor to play the Doctor appears in a small guest role (Colin Baker). This episode, in keeping with the season’s 20th anniversary theme, and brings back Omega, the villain of 1973’s The Three Doctors, in a story set on the Time Lord planet of Gallifrey.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store
The 582nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Leonard Sachs and Michael Gough guest star; for the first and only time to date in the series, the next actor to play the Doctor appears in a small guest role (Colin Baker). This episode brings back Omega, the villain of 1973’s The Three Doctors.
This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store